Vintage Track Racer by Olli

Check this out, click them damn pics again!

According to a rumor going around, the pictured pre-WWII track bicycle was recently found under a pile of old junk in the back of the boiler room of the Käpylä velodrome in Helsinki by some old janitor dude. The 'drome was built between 1938-1940. Whoa, could that really be...?

No, just kidding. The bike is actually the latest project by our very own Bike Designer Extraordinaire, Olli AKA ChopperOlli. You remember this, right? And this?

Look here for plenty of pics detailing how a 1980s Peugeot race bike became something entirely else. Incredible.

Now that this project is done, he is currently working on a prototype for a trick track bike which will have dual mono fork design etc. Can't wait to see that.

Olmo Pista Pursuit W/ Shamals & All

There's a real nice vintage Olmo Pista pursuit track bike with Olmo-panthographed Cinelli stem, Campagnolo Record crankset, Shamal wheels and other lovely parts hanging on the window of the Kumiluoti shop here in Helsinki right now. And it's for sale, if you're interested. 

Vote Obama!

New St*rfuckers Fork Design

The new fork design from St*rfuckers in Tokyo is looking interesting indeed. 

Sturdy looking and with TWO positions to put your wheel in, the other one providing zero-rake. So it's obviously made for tricks. 

(Click the pic to see it in full size, blogspot image-sizing is acting funny again, at least on my screen.)

(From 3Bancho.)  

A Bike That Has It All

I've always preferred Velospace over Fixed Gear Gallery. Here's one more example why. 

Dogsballs' Geekhouse has just about everything I dig right now: 

Pursuit style geometry, Profile Racing Fixed hubs & BMX cranks, Araya Aero rims from NJS Supermarket, Custom H riser bar, Wellgo platform pedals, black Ourys, sparkly green color, straight forks, Continental tires etc. 

So nice. 

New Wheel Prototype From Fixedgearlondon

Whatever that means? 

Forks Fail. Be Careful.

Profile BMX Cranks On Fixed Gear Bikes?

Interesting. Profile Racing is at the moment still developing new cranks for fixed gear use but some people simply cannot wait. 

Mister 3Bancho AKA HC100, seems to be experimenting with Profile's 3-piece BMX cranks but apparently there are some chainline issues still to be solved (my Japanese is not good enough to actually really read the post...). 

According to Profile, this setup is not ideal as it's not made for fixed gear use and the single bolt design of the sprocket might come loose quite easily. On the other hand, Keo for example seems to be running Profile cranks in his bike anyway. 

Profile BMX cranks are also available even as short as 145mm, if you really want to avoid pedal strike and toe overlap... 

Double Up! Pharrell Now Haz Arrospok X 2

John Prolly knew it first. What can I say. 

Except maybe, 'Go ahead and raise that seatpost a lil' bit, boy...'. 

In fact it's funny how much his Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta looks like an old school BMX with Aerospokes and because the frame is so small. If I was him, I'd order one of my personal assistants to put a proper BMX bars, or even better, these risers, on my new toy, like, right now!

UPDATE! 

Just to make it clear, I'm not hating on Pharrell's new whip, quite the contrary. But the whole posing in the lounge room thing, especially in front of that apparently huge Kaws painting, is bit amusing indeed.  

The Epic Empire.

Empire from Empire on Vimeo.

The Empire State, that is. Back to square one. You know, where it all started, bike messengers, track bikes on street and all that. NYC. Respect. 

The video seems to be a trailer for something bigger, much much bigger, The Empire Begins. It's brand new too. Also, it's not only tricks, there's some actual riding, even messengers in there. Anyway, everyone else was just posting it on their blogs, so I had to do it as well. Enjoy, I did. 

Since We All Love Old School BMX Bikes Anyway

Raleigh Super Tuff Burner Reissue. Mag wheels & all. Yikes!

(If the pic looks strange, just click to see the big one...)

And then click here to see that video...

Phil Wood Spokes. For Real.

As seen in Barrierbloor. 

For sale at Brick Lane Bikes, London, England. 

Plastic Bag My Ass

Yeah, on Saturday, coming home from here, I was attacked by an evil plastic bag. 

I was speeding along, minding my own biznezz, it was super windy, and just like that, this nasty motherfucker just jumped from the ditch and caught me completely by surprise. I had like three seconds to react and I actually though I managed to duck and escape the vicious attack but I was already fucked by then. 

But everyone knows how bad plastic bags are anyway, right? 

Unfortunately this also shows that I don't have the Zen and I cannot see 15 seconds into the future, like real brakeless fixed gear riding bike messengers apparently do. 

Mike Giant at White Walls Gallery, San Francisco

Bright Color Bikes For Dark Days

Click on the pic to see them in full, the scaling is somehow bit off...

'Bad Boys Of Japan'

Bad Boys from NZNZman on Vimeo.

(Found it at ZBLOG)

Helsinki Fixed Gear Saturday Tricks & Beers

Helsinki Saturday Fixed Gear Trick & beers at the Suvilahti power plant, as organized by the yksivaihde.net. Fun. More pics here, here and here.  

Crescent. So Hot. Back In The 1980s.

More Fyxomatosis Chainring Pron

Yesterday I blogged about the new nice fyxomatosis track chainrings. 

Here are more pics of the product. Looking mighty good. 

Save The Cheerleader... Save The World!

Whoa! So it seems like Hayden Panettiere is about to get a fixie. 

Well, I love Heroes so this is cool. But what/how? According to Tracko, she was just seen getting a fixed gear wheelset from Orange Bikes in Los Angeles. Go girl! 

So Laid Back.

Not exactly the raddest riding but I really dig the soundtrack. That particular style of late 1990s goatee-fingering-head-nodding-huge-backpack-rocking-indie-geek-boy-hiphop still works for me. 

Garrett Chow's Ciöcc Enemy

Yeah, bit bored with all that MASH SF stuff by now but I gotta say this: Garett's Ciöcc Enemy is probably one of the most perfect bikes out there. Seriously nice. 

And bit surprisingly the bike is actually in FGG too. 

The photo is taken by Gideon Tsang, see the full size one and plenty more nice pics here. 

Track Chainrings For Life From Fyxomatosis

Fyxomatosis, Australia's track bike connoisseur extraordinaire (tm) has started producing his own track chainrings, which look super delicious, thanks to his great photography skills (click the pic to make it bigger). 

But the chainrings seriously do look good with that classic Italian pista style, there are two finish options, they appear to super-sturdy, and the twist is that he promises a 12 month guarantee on the chainrings (see below). 

The price is actually quite reasonable too when you compare them to any high quality 1/8 track chainrings, like Sugino 75, Dura-Ace or TA. 

This is what the man himself has to say about them, besides the marketing copy below:

"They are SUPER silent. I've ridden just about every chainring there is - Suntour Superbe, Campagnolo, Sugino, No namers, SR, Dura-ace. These are quieter and wear better, even with the wipperman BMX chain I had.

They'll be available eventually in 130/135 - 1/8th. They're not light due to their beefy cut, material is aluminium."

And they're good for cutting tomatoes too?

 * * * 

fyxomatosis chainrings

All 144BCD - 1/8th
All 4mm plate.
Australian made.

The tooth profile and contact area for the chain is greater = longer life, better wear.

If you wear out a chainring significantly from riding in 12 months, we will replace it FREE. No exceptions.

It will take more than a ride across China and back to wear us out in a year - Good luck!

Tested on couriers and track animals. All come with a 12 month 'Kill me if you can' warranty.

RAW finish - USD$59 delivered
POLISHED Finish - USD$69 delivered

Get them HERE! 

The Flow. The Air. Get A BMX.

Yeah, ok, I read that BikesnobNYC post where all his boring road cycling blog commentators tell everyone to quit trying to do anything creative on fixed gear bikes or/and to buy a BMX bike instead. Whatever, it just seems that road cyclists everywhere been drinking way too much of that Hatorade. And it gets so booooriing. 

But one thing that kept coming up was The Flow and The Air that any freestyle riding on a track bike obviously lacks. Sure, it's true. Just check the out video above, that's Ruben Alcantara for you. He has the flow and he gets air. Big time. 

It's The Remix, Motherf*ckers!

Bootleg Sessions Syndicate Ep 1 from Bootleg Sessions on Vimeo.

I dig those wallride thingys and whatnot. These dudes are obviously on the way to the next level.

Happy Pogos & Spins

POGO&SPIN / JONAGOLD&U-SK from T.F.F on Vimeo.

Very happy soundtrack, yes indeed.

"Stryper Bike"

Def super-cool looking bike, little different design too.

But wait, does it look bit like it could have been designed by Stryper (I guess you need to be old enough to have been a metalhead kid in the 1980s to remember...)? 

NITTO B263AA Mini Bullhorn Bar 300mm

New goodies from Nitto Tokyo. 

The narrowest bullhorn bar ever, 30cm. Designed for 25.4 stem clamp too, which is great news. 

Copenhagen Representing

Yes! The first video from Scandinavia. Copenhagen is geographically so close to home that this makes me feel almost as proud as if we did that ourselves. No palm trees, it looks cold, the sunshine's kinda bleak and grimy, no leaves on the trees, everyone's pale, basically just like at home.

SKÅL!

Things. Go Broken. Be Careful.

It happens, here, here and here (yes, that's a Shamal). Sad. 

Trick Whip Check: Tom Mosher

Trick bike check time again. A big BMX bike, yes? You're already familiar with Tom Mosher, the man who did that nice tutorial and generally rules on two wheels, right? I don't more about the bike that it's apparently new one after the previous frame he destroyed. Check out also the interesting hose clamp solution on the pedals. More of this stuff here on Tricktrack forums. 

(Little correction/update here:) Contrary to what I first wrote, Tom does not - just yet - roll on those fat Profile Racing fixed hubs  like my previous bike-checked guys, Prolly, Keo & SuperTed. Anyway, let's hope he does soon. 

Paul Smith Has A Track Bike. Or Does He Really?

Just found these pics on Blue Lug Blog: 

It seems that Mr. Paul Smith (yes, the man behind that often very stripy mens' fashion brand) is almost riding a track bike, and a Keirin bike no less, in Tokyo. Interesting indeed. 

Well, he did have that bike design collaboration project with Mercian Cycles last year, more about his cycling pedigree here too. The pictures show that he did visit Blue Lug shop but I'm guessing the picture just has him trying out someone else's bike outside of the shop. 

Tom Mosher Is On It

Hutchinson Tire Ad

Obviously, in the near future you're gonna be seeing more and more ads & commercials featuring fixed gear bikes, here's one for yo'all but at least it's plugging bicycle tires, and not sub-prime mortgage loans or some other evil shit like that. 

The ad is maybe a bit meh in the beginning but once it gets going it's actually pretty nice. Also, you don't hear that type of glitch hop or whatever music as the soundtrack in the online cycling videos nowadays. Works fine here anyway. Plus it goes to show that all those advertisement agency dudes are on some otha shit, so to say. 

And one more thing, I know nothin' about dem Hutchinson tires because I'm personally a Continental-man, 'Hand Made In Germany' and all that, Gatorskin Ultras all the way, baby!

(Found it at John Prolly's)

YO!kohama

Fixed gear tricks in Yokohama from ryo ubota on Vimeo.

From Seattle, I Think?

Tyler's day out. from ZLOG on Vimeo.

FixedGearLondon X Vans Collabo

Fixedgearlondon.com and Vans teamed up and this is what results look like
"Fixedgearlondon was founded by Andy and Ted in 2005, riding fixed has since become our lives – and more. This frame is the first that Ted has built from scratch and is Fixedgearlondons’ interpretation of what a Vans fixed gear bike should be like."

Toronto Representing. And Breaking A Frame.

Toronto Track Tricks from Tom Mosher on Vimeo.

Purple Anodized Cinelli R1 Stem.

Purple anodized 95mm Cinelli R1 stem, anyone? 

Street Hawk, Anyone?

Pedals For The Fixed Freestyle & Tricks: Wellgo Mini Platforms

For those who prefer riding your fixed gear bike in sneakers, one of the most popular combinations nowadays seems to be the MKS GR-9 platform-type pedals with clips and (double) straps. The popularity of GR-9 has spread so much that according to recent reports, they're sold out pretty much everywhere in the USA at the moment.

I've used that setup myself and I like it a lot, the only negative points being the fact that since the pedals have practically no gripping surface, they're slippery, especially when it gets wet. Also, since the pedals are not made for double straps, you need to attach the clips with bit longer screws which will hold the front strap in its place. In addition, riding on the underside of the pedals doesn't really work too well at all.

If you're into tricks/freestyle, the last point is important since you want to be able to ride on the undersides too. Lot of people have actually started using big-ass BMX platform pedals, like John Prolly here, and SuperTed here (with Power Straps), for example.

Now, I'm suggesting an better alternative to GR-9s:

Wellgo Mini BMX/DH Platform Pedals, MKS clips & double straps.

Wellgo mini platform pedals are the coolest. They're about one third smaller than normal BMX/DH pedals (still big enough for my US 9.5 size sneakers), not much heavier than GR-9s, MKS clips (attached to the INside of the pedal) and double straps fit nicely and the pedals are good to ride on both sides. Lastly, the pins on the outer edges of the pedals can be screwed off, which should be done on the clip side because it makes it easier to get into the clips. The exact model of the pedals is MG-28, BTW.

Props for coming up with this combo actually go to Konkeli AKA the man with the bloody Pista. Cheers!